Military Leaders Say Biofuels Key to Strengthening National Security

In the last year alone, we have seen the economic and environmental consequences of our over-reliance on foreign oil as a transportation fuel. Gas prices continue to empty the pockets of hard working Americans, and the long term ecological effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico are still largely unknown.

But our dependence impacts more than just our pocketbooks and our habitats.

A new report from the Military Advisory Board (MAB), “Ensuring America’s Freedom of Movement: A National Security Imperative to Reduce U.S. Oil Dependence,” demonstrates how our addiction to foreign oil poses a significant threat to our national security and geopolitical standing.

According to the MAB, a council composed of 13 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals, America’s dependence on oil is a significant national vulnerability and “Immediate and aggressive action to move our transportation sector away from oil and toward alternative, domestically produced sources of energy are needed to improve our national security posture.”

Energy security is national security. If we cannot fuel our own military ships, tanks and jets, we cannot protect our nation.

In fact, in its 2010 Fuel Scorecard, the Truman National Security Project concludes that the policy of keeping oil as our primary transportation fuel “clearly stands out as the most harmful for U.S. national security overall.”

There is only one solution: we must use less oil. And we can, through conservation and efficiencies over time, and significantly right now by substituting the use of oil through domestically-produced alternatives – specifically, ethanol.

Domestic ethanol is the single-best alternative to foreign oil we have. Grain ethanol is already here and commercially viable. And if we can lift the regulatory hurdles that are stifling the natural market-expansion of the U.S. ethanol industry, it will replace more.

A full move to E15 (15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline) will help our nation meet the goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard. And by expanding the market for domestic ethanol, E15 can spur private capital investment into the development of ethanol from cellulosic biomass. With cellulosic ethanol, we can turn feedstocks such as corn stover, citrus waste and even woodchips into clean, renewable fuel.

Long term, we need to invest in the infrastructure necessary to deliver higher level blends of ethanol to the consumer. The key to that are Flex Fuel pumps and Flex Fuel vehicles.

A commitment to expanding our nation’s renewable fuel industry will strengthen our energy security, generate more U.S. jobs that can’t be outsourced and improve our environment. We have had opportunities in the past to enact these changes, yet we have failed. Today, we can no longer afford to hit the snooze button.

As the MAB states in their recommendations, “The time for our nation to act is now; this is a call to action.”